Method of making castings.



E. H. MUMFORD.

METHOD OF MAKING OASTINGS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1914.

1,123,914. Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

PATENT @FFICE.

EDGAR H. MUMFORD, 0F PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING CASTINGS.

ineaoiii.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

Application filed January 30, 1914. Serial No. 815,441.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR H. MUMFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Plainfield, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of MakingCastings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method of making castings and it has for oneof its primary objects the provision of an improved method whereby themolds are handled in a simple, expeditious, and economical manner andwhereby the space required in carrying out the various steps is reducedto a minimum.

My invention further contemplates the provision of a novel methodwherein the making of the molds, the pouring, and the handling of thepoured molds are so correlated that the three operations can be carriedout with great rapidity and continuity while at the same time provisionis made for accommodating and temporarily storing a large number ofpoured molds in such manner as to utilize but little more space thanwould be required for a single mold of an approximately correspondingsize. n

The foregoing together with such other objects as may hereinafterappear, or are illcident to my invention, I attain, by means of amethod, the steps of which I have illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings wherein- Fig. 1 is a section through a foundry having moldingapparatus, conveyer and storage mechanism, and pouring apparatus arranged to carry out my improved method; and Fig. 2 is a perspective Viewof a detail of the storage mechanism.

In order to afford a clear understanding of my improved method and ofthe advantages incident thereto, 1 shall first describe the general formof apparatus I employ in carrying out my invention.

Referring now to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the foundry floor 7supports a vertical frame or supporting structure 8, on which is mountedan endless substantially vertical conveyer A. The conveyer comprises twoendless belts 9, which are preferably of link belt construction and fromwhich are supported a plurality of mold shelves 10, such shelves beingpivotally hung from the conveyer by brackets 11, and being of a sizesufficient to support a number of molds (see Big. 2). The belts arecarried on pairs of Wheels 12 and 12, the lower pair of which, 12, 18mounted closely ad acent to the foundry floor and over a pit 13. Thebelt moves in the direction indicated by the arrows. Only one of thebelts 9 and one each of the wheels 12 and 12 are shown inthe drawingsinasmuch as Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the whole apparatus and thesaid parts are arranged in the same planes.

Just above the bottom wheels, 12, the belts engage guide members 14L,only one of which is shown, which carry the belts inwardly in suchmanner as to successively uncover or expose the molds on the upwardlymoving side of the wheels 12. A pouring ladle 15 is supported adjacenttothe wheels 12 on the upwardly moving side of the conveyer mechanism.Mounted on the floor on opposite or downwardly moving side and closelyadjacent to the conveyer mechanism is a molding machine 16 which may beof any preferred type. I provide a sand floor 17 above the moldingmachine and the sand is supplied to the machine by means of the hopper18. The sand, after having been used, is brou ht back to the sand floorby means of he foraminous chute 19 which extends from a point adjacentto the downwardly moving 'side of the conveyer to the sand floor. As theshelves pass the wheels 12 and move downwardly, they are tilted by amanually controlled trip mechanism or trip guide 20 and the molds aredischarged from off the shelves into the chute. At a point in the chutesubstantially above the sand bin, the movement of the bottom boards 21,bands, castings, etc., is arrested by manually re leasable stop means 22and the sand is discharged therefrom, sifting through the chute into thesand bin and the casting being removed by hand from before the stop 22.It will be clear that the entire conveyer constitutes in effect a hugevertical mold supporting table capable of storing a great number ofmolds while at the same time but a minimum amount of space is requiredtherefor.

Owing to inherent operating conditions it is practically necessary tocarry on mold- .ing operations in a single storied foundry,

and it is customary for the molder first to complete quite a number ofsand molds, which are deposited on the foundry floor and occupyconsiderable space, and then to' pour the molds. It will be obvious thatthis practice is not economical for it entails the use of extensivefloor space andincreases the number and extent of the movementsnecessary in handling and pouring the molds.

In'carrying out my improved method, I

propose to make the molds, on the molding machine 16 or otherwise, onthe foundry floor adjacent to the storage conveyer mech- I pleted, theyare stored on the shelves 10,

this operation being continued until all the shelves of the verticalstorage mechanism are filled, or until the molder has completed thedesired number of molds. The molder then pours the molds from anypreferred means such as the ladle 15 or from a hand ladle, the conveyerbeing now preferably driven step-by-step to bring successive shelves toaccessible pouring position. After all the molds have been poured, or atany stage of the pouring operation, the trip guide 20 is shifted so asto automatically discharge the poured molds successively into the chute19 in the manner hereinbeforeset forth.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the amount of floor spacerequired is reduced to a minimum and that a large number of molds can betaken care of without interfering with the other operations.

It will also be seen that the number and extent of the movementsinvolved in the handling of the molds is reduced, ,and that the processis expeditious and tends to secure general economy. The use of thevertical mold storage mechanism has an added advantage in that it is notnecessary to shift the molds on the shelves previous and subsequent tothe pouring and they remain undisturbed while the metal cools. Moreover,in the operations of the apparatus as described, the sand is supplied,hopper fed, to the molds without the expensive sand conveyers commonlyused.

If desired the molding and pouring operations can be carried onsimultaneously, and it will be clear that this can be conveniently donein such manner that the workmen will not interfere with one another.

My improved method will be found to be of great value in the making ofsmall castings for standard products, such for example as hardware,though it will be apparent that it is adapted for other kinds of work.

It will also be evident that, as contrasted unit, unaffected by thepossible disabling of other units.

What I claim is:

1. The herein described process of providing for, the handling andpouring of mold products which consists in forming the molds, in storingthem on an endless substantially vertically movable storage conveyer, intransferring them by means of' said conveyer to a pouring station on theupwardly moving side of said conveyer, in pouring the molds, and then inremoving the poured molds from the conveyer.

2. The herein described process of providing for the handling andpouring of mold products which consists in forming the molds adjacent tothe downwardly moving side of an endless substantially verticallymovable conveyer, in storing them on said downwardly moving side, intransferring the molds by means of said conveyer to a pouring station onthe upwardly moving side thereof, in pouring the molds, in removing thepoured molds from the conveyer, in separating the sand and castings, andreturning the sand to position on the downwardly moving side for reuse.

3. The herein described process of providing for the handling andpouring of the product of a molding machine located on the downwardlymoving side of an endless substantially vertically movable storageconveyer, which consists in forming the molds, in storing the molds onthe downwardly moving portion of the conveyer, in transferring them bymeans of said conveyer to a pouring station on the upwardly moving sidethereof, in pouring the molds, in removing the poured molds from theconveyer on the downwardly'moving side, and in separating the sand andcastings on said side and thereby returning the sand to position forreuse on the machine.

4. The herein described process of providing for the handling andpouring of mold products which consists in forming the molds adjacent tothe downwardly moving side of an endless substantially vertically theupwardly moving side of the conveyer, In testimony whereof I havehereunto 1n pouring the molds, in transferring the slgned my name in thepresence of the two poured molds by means of the conveyer-to asubscribed witnesses. point of removal on the downwardly moving EDGAR H.MUMFORD.

5 side and then in separating the sand and the Witnesses:

castmgs and returning the sand to position REGINA BRADY, on saiddownwardly moving side for reuse. LAURA E. SMITH.

